1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cooling of electronic components, and specifically to a liquid cooling device for electronic circuit boards.
2. Background of the Related Art
Microelectronic components such as memory modules contained in computers and electronic devices generate substantial amounts of heat during operation which must be removed in order to ensure reliable performance and a long lifetime of the components. In the past, this has been achieved by using air cooling, for example with fans forcing an air flow through the electronic device. However, these air cooling arrangements have been found to consume a considerable amount of space and/or fail to adequately cool the microelectronic components. In particular, usage of densely packed powerful microelectronic components such as dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) requires a powerful cooling system.
A DIMM is a narrow elongated electronic circuit board which holds memory modules on both of its sides. Due to the high density and close vicinity of powerful memory modules on the circuit board, DIMMs need reliable and highly effective cooling which is difficult to implement using air flow cooling.